Claudia, Director Shared Services: "HiiL is an organization with very passionate people. People that really want to make a difference in the world."

For the vacancy of Financial Controller (Business Partner) at HiiL we visited their office in The Hague. Claudia Heemskerk, who is Director Shared Services at HiiL, told us more about the amazing things the organisation does and the unique and beautiful challenges that lie ahead for the new colleague. 

Can you introduce yourself? 
I am Claudia Heemskerk and I’m working for HiiL as from november 2019 in the role of Director Shared Services. I’m responsible for all support departments within HiiL, such as Finance, HR, Legal, IT, Office, Security and Communications. The organization exists of approximately 70 people in total. Before I joined HiiL I worked in the legal field, particularly in bringing together IT companies that organize IT in this specific niche. Originally I studied Management, Economics and Law and after my studies I gained experience at several commercial organizations. 

What do you like the most about your role at HiiL? 
I started at HiiL because I like to be part of this organisation that doubled in numbers the last 3 to 4 years and has the ambition to keep on growing. In 5 years we want to grow from a revenue of 4 million to around 15 million. Which means we’re also growing from a small group of 15 passionate and enthusiastic people to a real organization with a serious business operation, structure and coordination with more efficiency. Being part of that and making that happen in the field of justice is incredibly important.
 

| Claudia: “Being part of that and making that happen in the field of justice is incredibly important.”
 

Can you describe the Finance department? 
Taking a closer look at the Finance department, this is a department with 2 people right now: an external Financial Controller who functions as a sparring partner for me and the other members of the management team about all finance related issues. And next to that we have an administrative support colleague that handles the daily more administrative tasks.

What makes working for HiiL so unique? 
HiiL is an organization with very passionate people. People that really want to make a difference in the world. They want to do good. And that’s a property, if it’s in the core of people’s nature, that makes it a privilege to work with them. Overall they are critical and creative people, with the drive to change something in the world. They should not have to be concerned about the operations although they do see the need for that. What I like a lot about my colleagues at HiiL is that they’re very open to more people that are helping to put down the organization firmly, so they can do their job and make the difference.
 

| Claudia: “HiiL is an organisation with very passionate people.”
 

What kind of challenges lie ahead for the new Financial Controller at HiiL?
The first and biggest challenge for the Financial Controller will be the switch from an administration ‘on paper’ system to a completely digital administration. The second challenge is the transfer from the local office in The Hague to a more local financial control in different countries around the world. In every country there’s another level of knowledge about finance, building a financial administration. So the person who is filling in this role has to be a beacon who keeps the overview of the administration from the head office in The Hague. Our new Financial Controller also has to be capable of working with people in different countries, strategically as well as operationally, and build the organization and in particular the financial administration. I think that’s the most unique and beautiful challenge HiiL has to offer. 

Curious about the vacancy of Financial Controller (Business Partner) at HiiL in The Hague?
Read more/Bekijk de vacature